Media Inquiries:
Jessica Corcoran, SMART Communications Director, 971-634-1605
Kathy Budinick, Plum Creek
888-467-3751
Plum Creek Grant Helps Students Get SMART about Reading
COOS BAY, Ore. – A $5,000 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation will put 14 Coos County children on the path to being better readers with the help of the South Coast SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program.
Helping Oregon students become confident readers since 1991, SMART serves nearly 220 children in kindergarten through 3rd grade at four Coos County elementary schools. The Plum Creek grant will fund SMART tuition for 14 students at Blossom Gulch, Bunker Hill and Madison elementary schools in Coos Bay and in Hillcrest Elementary School in North Bend.
Dedicated volunteers and take-home books are the keys to the SMART reading program, which improves the students’ reading fluency and comprehension. The children are paired with the volunteers for one-on-one reading sessions for total of an hour a week throughout the school year. The program’s goal is to make sure that participants are reading at their grade level by the end of third grade.
“Research shows that children from low-income families are more likely to need extra help to develop reading skills,” says Cheryl Brown, SMART’s assistant director. “Each child receives individualized attention from two dedicated volunteers in a positive literary experience that supports the children’s efforts to learn and celebrates their successes.”
SMART operates primarily in schools where at least 40 percent of the student body participates in the free or reduced-cost federal lunch program. SMART includes children who need help to increase their reading skills, have limited books in the home and are in need of one-on-one relationships with caring adults.
At least 130 adults representing a broad range of the local community are recruited for the reading program. SMART volunteers include retirees, laborers, professionals, business owners, homemakers, public officials and college students.
A $2,500 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation in 2009 was used to purchase 1,205 books for SMART students to take home and keep for their own.
About Plum Creek
Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. In Oregon, Plum Creek practices sustainable forestry on all of its 430,000 acres in the western part of the state. For more information on Plum Creek, visit www.plumcreek.com.
About SMART® (Start Making A Reader Today)
SMART, Start Making A Reader Today, is a statewide nonprofit organization that envisions an Oregon where every child can read and is empowered to succeed. We partner with schools around the state and engage community volunteers to read one-on-one with K-3 children, helping strengthen literacy skills and encourage a love of reading. Over the past two decades, SMART has steadily grown to become Oregon’s largest volunteer literacy program. In 2010-2011, we will serve 7,000 children statewide with the help of 5,000 community volunteers. Children in the program receive 14 new books throughout the school year to keep and read with their families. Together, with support from communities and schools around the state, SMART is improving the reading capacity of Oregon’s children. Visit www.getSMARToregon.org or call 1-877-598-4633 to learn more about SMART.
Photo Caption: Community members, including SMART volunteers, readers, and students, school principals and Plum Creek Foundation representatives gathered to celebrate the presentation of the $5,000 grant to SMART in Coos County. The grant will fund 14 Coos County children in the SMART program. Back row, from left: Jerry Phillips, SMART Site Coordinator; Michelle Marroquin, SMART Site Coordinator; Linda Goodwin, SMART reader; Mandi Henderson, SMART Site Coordinator; Mel Engelhardt, SMART Site Coordinator; Tom Burdett, SMART reader; Dan Strasser, SMART staff; Jared Olsen, Principal, Bunker Hill. Front row, from left: Bill Frings, Plum Creek Foundation; Cheryl Brown, SMART staff; SMART students; Chris Otis, SMART Executive Director; and Lloyd Newton, SMART reader.